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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated football for the past decade and a half. Between them, the duo have won 11 of the last 12 Ballon d'Or awards. Lionel Messi has won six Ballons d'Or while Cristiano Ronaldo has won five.
Both Messi and Ronaldo were quite phenomenal at an individual level in the 2020-21 season. Both of them won the Golden Boot in their respective leagues. Lionel Messi won the Golden Boot and the Best Player Award at the 2021 Copa America. Cristiano Ronaldo won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to face several challenges in the 2021-22 season
But with both players on the wrong side of 30 and stuck in difficult situations, this might finally be a season both players could struggle to dominate.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi won't dominate the 2021-22 season.
#5 Lionel Messi might take time to hit his stride in the new season
It's official. Lionel Messi has left Barcelona after 16 years of first-rate service. He is reportedly set to join Paris Saint-Germain as a free-agent. Messi started the 2020-21 season on a slow note. He evidently needed time to settle down after being forced to stay at Barcelona last summer.
It goes to show that Messi is human too and he will need time to settle down in France or wherever he ends up at. His life as a professional footballer has been all about Barcelona. The 34-year-old will need to settle down at a new place and get used to the conditions in a new country.
He might not even have been mentally prepared to take on such a challenge. To quote from Lionel Messi's farewell speech at Barcelona:
"Truth is I don't know what to say here. I've given a lot of thought to what I can say and the truth is that I can't think of anything as this is really difficult for me. I've been here my entire life and I'm not ready for this."
#4 Juventus are set to undergo a rebuild
Bringing back Massimiliano Allegri has instilled a certain sense of confidence among the Bianconeri. The Italian coach insists the club will challenge for titles this season. But after a couple of turbulent campaigns, Juventus will need to find an identity once again.
Despite winning the Super Cup and the Coppa Italia, Juventus were all over the place in Serie A and the Champions League. Their midfielders underperformed last season. The Bianconeri have a lot of work to do to re-establish themselves as a side that can mount a challenge on all fronts.
Cristiano Ronaldo will need to do the hard yards to settle down in a new system. His teammates will also be doing the same and he could thus find it difficult to keep up his high rate of productivity.
#3 Lionel Messi will be playing with a new set of players
For a player who has spent his entire professional career at one club, making a jump at 34 is not going to be easy. The circumstances have forced Messi to leave Barcelona and he will need to unlearn quite a lot in the coming months.
The possession-based game that Barcelona play is quite different to the style that Messi's potential suitors, Paris Saint-Germain, have adopted. It's not a far cry from Barcelona's but with an entirely different set of players around him, Messi will need some time to fully settle down into his environment.
It will take him a while to be on the same page as his new teammates. Messi will need some time to get used to playing in Mauricio Pochettino's system as well.
#2 Fatigue will catch up after a gruelling season
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi featured extensively in the 2020-21 season. After the Covid-19 recess, fixtures came thick and fast for footballers and they did not get a proper break between the seasons.
The 2020-21 season was pretty congested and Cristiano Ronaldo played at Euro 2020 while Messi represented Argentina at the Copa America this summer. After a short break, Ronaldo has had to report for pre-season preparations.
Messi is likely to join a new club soon and will be dropped straight back into the deep-end. Ronaldo is 36 now and Messi is 34. There have already been a few indications of their age catching up with them.
Living on the wrong side of 30, both players could be affected by fatigue as they have played an incredible amount of football this past year.
#1 New stars like Haaland and Mbappe will take over
Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are viewed as direct successors to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Both individuals have clocked incredible numbers in recent seasons. They are expected to kick on in the same vein as they seem well settled at their current clubs.
Haaland scored 41 goals and provided 12 assists from 41 appearances across all competitions for Borussia Dortmund this past term. Mbappe scored 42 goals and provided 11 assists from 47 appearances across all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020-21 season.
Erling Haaland turned 21 in July and Kylian Mbappe is 22-years-old. This will undoubtedly be their year and both could easily overshadow both Messi and Ronaldo in the 2021-22 season.
